The 'Cousins'

Part Sixty-One: Greg at The Bank

A/N: Greg has left Ali and Tomas at the Stable to work up a layout plan for the oil plant and walked to the bank for his meeting with Courtley. Following the change in the attitudes of Ali and Tomas to his project ,after their apparent enthusiasm of the night before, he now has misgivings about extending his plans to include them. Greg has left the truck with Ali so he can borrow a pallet truck for when the equipment for the plant arrives the next day. He tries to ignore the scowls and harsh looks cast at him by passers by as he walks through the town and blames it on the false rumour circulated by somebody about him being in bed with young Jess. But he has urgent banking business to do and arrives at the Bank to be told the Manager is held up. Greg sits in the foyer reading a magazine while he waits for the manager.  Now read on:-

Timeline: 10:34 Friday, 20th April :: Commercial and Farmers Bank, Bamptonville.

Greg sat cross-legged on the bench outside Bill Courtley’s office browsing the current edition of Nebraska Farmer with increasing interest as a source of local information, and how the economic implications of current agricultural trends impacted on small  rural communities such as Bamptonville. 

He found one article particularly fascinating and read it through carefully, with increasing interest, since it ran parallel with his bio-diesel objectives. Written by a professor at the University of Nebraska, College of Technology the piece presented a reasoned and powerful argument for the urgent need for Nebraska to reduce its reliance on power derived from fossil fuels; all of which have to be brought in from outside of the State. 

The part that raised ferment in Greg was a call for the State to produce more of its own energy requirements from the vast amounts of bio-mass currently going to waste in field burn-off, creating air pollution as its by-product. 

Greg sat forwards to the edge of the bench to read the article a second time, just to make sure he had read it correctly before dropping the journal onto the bench beside him in a state of excitement as he mulled over the factual content of the article.  ‘The State’s giving away grants to put in small-scale bio-mass powered generating plants and the power company has guaranteed to buy all they can produce.’ 

Greg punched the air in delight. It was proof positive that the State was looking for better ways to source its fuel requirements from waste . ‘If they’ll encourage the use of alternative energy and give grants for bio-mass, maybe they’ll do the same for bio-diesel?’  

Greg was fully alert and tingling with exhilaration at the prospects this discovery opened up for him. Picking up the magazine again, he made a mental note to subscribe to Nebraska Farmer.

The sepulchral silence of the bank’s foyer and waiting area was rudely disturbed by an angry man in farmer’s coveralls and knee length rubber boots storming out of the Manager’s office and tainting the air with the powerful odour of dairy sterilizer. 

“Damn Banks, they’re all the goddamn same, they give you umbrellas when the sun’s shining and want ‘em back the minute it starts to rain.”

Greg sat back in surprise, tossing the magazine to one side and watched the man march, angry and protesting, out of the bank. He leaned further to one side to peer into the open doorway of the Manager’s office from whence the man had emerged.

He saw Bill Courtley standing back from the doorway regaining his composure, his face flushed with embarrassment, and wiping his face and neck on a broad handkerchief. He smiled nervously when his eyes met Greg’s and stepped forward with his hand outstretched to greet him. He apologised as they shook hands.